Canopy Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Canopy Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 425,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,101,000 after acquiring an additional 64,782 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in American Tower by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,941,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,089,746,000 after purchasing an additional 455,225 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares during the period. Finally, Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd now owns 8,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Down 3.4 %

AMT opened at $220.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $103.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.01, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $202.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.72.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Profile

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.